Carlos Baleba completed a late comeback for Brighton & Hove Albion as they clinched a dramatic 3-2 victory over West Ham United at the Amex Stadium.
West Ham, who are safe from any relegation worries thanks to Ipswich Town’s loss to Newcastle United, thought they had secured a first win since the end of February, yet Brighton had other plans.
Yasin Ayari had given Brighton an early lead on Saturday, but Mohammed Kudus and Tomas Soucek turned the game on its head in the second half.
However, Kaoru Mitoma equalised in the 89th minute before Baleba sent the home fans into raptures with his stunning stoppage-time strike, leaving former Brighton boss Graham Potter scratching his head on the sidelines.
Brighton move up to ninth, while West Ham stay 17th, though they are 15 points clear of the bottom three with only four games left to play.
How the match unfolded
It took just 13 minutes for Brighton to find the opener. Jack Hinshelwood teed up Ayari 20 yards from goal, and the Swede picked out the top-right corner with a looping shot.
West Ham went close to a response as Soucek headed Maximilian Kilman’s cross onto the crossbar, with Bart Verbruggen getting fingertips to it.
Simon Adingra saw a second Brighton goal disallowed in the 36th minute. Alphonse Areola had made a double save to deny Pervis Estupinan and Mats Wieffer before the winger rifled in, but a VAR check confirmed Danny Welbeck had interfered with the initial effort from an offside position.
West Ham drew level three minutes after the restart, with Kudus guiding Jarrod Bowen’s cross through Verbruggen’s legs and into the bottom-left corner.
Bowen was the provider again as he teed up Soucek to nod past Verbruggen in the 83rd minute, but West Ham’s joy was short-lived as Mitoma nodded in from close range.
And Brighton ensured the spoils were theirs when Baleba bent home a sublime long-range strike in the 92nd minute.
Seagulls stay in the European fight
Brighton’s 4-2 defeat to Brentford last time out looked to have dented their chances of claiming a European spot this season, but the Seagulls have reignited those hopes.
AFC Bournemouth are not in action until Sunday, but with Fulham also beating Southampton, Brighton kept pace in the hunt for Europe, avoiding what could have been a costly slip-up.
They started well, with Ayari’s stunning finish giving Areola no chance, but they failed to take control for large parts of the game.
Only the slightest of margins denied them a second goal, though – Welbeck was inches past the last man when he tried to help on Estupinan’s strike, with Areola making two smart stops before Adingra’s strike was ruled out.
And even when West Ham grabbed the initiative in the second half, Brighton always posed a threat – Wieffer seeing a header kept out before Hinshelwood’s strike was deflected over.
The resilience Brighton showed after Soucek’s header will delight Fabian Hurzeler, and that never-say-die attitude will be required in the run-in. It is Newcastle next up for them.
Potter makes unhappy return
West Ham knew they needed a point, or an Ipswich defeat, to confirm their Premier League safety, even if they had likely been confident of it for a good while.
But this is proving to be a difficult end to the season for Potter, who could not get one over on his old club.
They showed signs of promise in the first half, with Soucek their standout performer – he turned Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s cross into the side netting from a tight angle before almost catching Verbruggen out with a looping header, with Brighton only saved by the bar.
Niclas Fullkrug’s second-half introduction helped, giving West Ham a focal point, and his movement in the six-yard box opened up the space for Kudus to meet Bowen’s cross.
Soucek thought he had snatched West Ham’s first win since 27th February, but their shaky defence could not stand up against Brighton’s late pressure. Their wait for a win will stretch to over two months, and it is a run they will be keen to stop against Tottenham Hotspur next week.
Club reports
Brighton report | West Ham report
What the managers said
Fabian Hurzeler: “I didn’t enjoy it because shortly before the end we were 2-2 and we wanted to win. But the moment when we scored was unbelievable. You saw the reaction from the players, crowd, the staff and fans, we really wanted to win. This was a special moment.
Remaining PL fixtures
Key facts
Only in 2022-23 (62) and 1981-82 (52 – 3/win) have Brighton earned more points in a top-flight season than their 51 this term.
West Ham have lost three successive Premier League away games for the first time since May last season, while only Southampton (5), Ipswich (5) and Leicester City (4) have collected fewer points in the Premier League than the Hammers since Graham Potter’s first game in charge (13).
Bowen provided his 36th and 37th assist for West Ham United in the Premier League, the most of any player for the club in the competition.
James Ward-Prowse (30y 176d) made his 400th Premier League appearance against Brighton (343 with Southampton, 48 with West Ham United, 9 with Nottingham Forest), becoming the sixth-youngest outfielder to reach that total in the competition, behind Wayne Rooney (29y 149d), Gareth Barry (29y 172d), James Milner (29y 300d), Frank Lampard (30y 93d) and Emile Heskey (30y 94d).
